A Comprehensive Analysis of Adoption of Energy Crops, GM Crops and Conservation Practices

The future of the US agriculture relies on sustainable resource use and income generation for farmers, and maintaining the environmental quality. Hence, farmers are expected to adopt various technologies and practices, such as energy crops, genetically modified crops, and conservation practices. The objective of this study is, by using a multivariate probit model, to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the impact of certain socio-economic factors on adoption of Miscanthus, Roundup Ready® soybean, and maintaining a 100 foot setback between water resources and manure application areas. The results of the current study show that different policies will be needed to promote adoption of technologies with different objectives.